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News4's Darcy Spencer spoke with a young Maryland boy who was able to fight off his attacker -- his father's ex-girlfriend. (Published Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013)

An 8-year-old Maryland boy using karate moves was able to escape what police are calling an attempted murder overnight last weekend.

Helen Marie Newsome, 26, is accused of breaking into a Landover home where the young boy was sleeping around 8 a.m. Saturday. Police say she had dated the boy's father, and they had recently broken up.

“I woke up and she was smothering me," Jacob Soliz-Amaya told News4. Police said the woman was also beating his head with a weapon. "While she was covering my mouth, I was thinking, and then I figured it out and then I [head-butted her].”

Bleeding and suffering from a head wound, Jacob escaped and ran to a neighbor's house for help. The neighbor called 911 and kept the boy until authorities arrived.

Police say Newsome managed to get away by jumping through a window.

She was arrested at her home later Saturday morning and charged with first-degree attempted murder.

"He fought through the fear and as scared as he was, he did it, and he did it by himself," Jacob's mother Salina Soliz said. "I want her to have the maximum sentence because no child should have to fear for his life and no child should have to go through what he's been through."

She is being held on a $500,000 bond and has admitted to the attack.

"I'm assuming she was trying to hurt me the best way possible, and what better way to hurt a parent than to hurt their kid?" Jacob's father, Andy Amaya told News4.

Jacob had to get eight stitches on his head and has since been released from a local hospital.